The instructions you are giving makes more sense than that of the last person's video. I was taught in the Air Force how to use the compass, but it was so long ago until I have forgotten what was taught to us.
I own a Cammenga compass, Tritium 3H, very nice, HQ tool!! 8:15 - position the lens where the floating dial comes in sharp. We all have different eyes sharpness, some wear glasses. In my case, the lens has to be in front of the cover a little bit and not engaged as in the video shown. Looking through the gun site slot above the lens, the wire and anything beyond has to be sharp or well seen also. That's all! I have an old $5 lensatic compass (Made in Japan), same apply also. The fit and quality is not as good as the Cammenga, but accurate. With the liquid inside, the magnetic arrow takes a few seconds to settle. Otherwise, in an experienced hand, this cheap compass can be a very handy tool for shooting azimuths!
Hi Steven, thank you for this great video explaining our older USGI compass (I am an older guy) - it does bring back a lot of memories - Ciao, L (Veteran)
I also suggest a small UV light (like a keychain sized one). Phosphorescent materials absorb energy NOT in white light but in UV. So, shining UV gets them charged faster, and the light purple (it's hard to find pure UV) doesn't kill your night vision like a bright white light will.
Good videos. Ignore the people whining about talking too much, etc., they're the same people who would complain if you said too little. Too bad you can't read everyone's minds and know exactly what they want, right? It's 9 minutes, AND YOU CAN FAST FORWARD WITH ALMOST NO EFFORT, even less effort than it takes to complain,and WAY less effort than it takes to make these videos.
@timjseg What needs cleaning? Mostly, hose it off if needed. Sometimes they can get gummed up. Turns out, it's easy to get them apart without destroying them. Unscrew the four screws on the bottom of the case and pull of the plate. You'll find the entire capsule (the compass part) is actually a capsule. A rubber-covered little cylinder. Pull it out (carefully, to not tear the rubber, but it's gonna take some force) then you can clean the hinge and needle-lock mechanisms, and so on. More...
1) They are non-ferrous metals. Also makes them light. 2) You can calibrate compasses to compensate for nearby magnetic fields. Ships, for example, are multi-thousand-ton hunks of magnetic field, but compasses are crucial to navigation. Calibration of these is routine, very precise, and very repeatable. 3) OTOH, do keep away from other influences; vehicles, batteries, weapons, etc. Watch your compass.
Thanks for posting this! i have a basic understanding of navigation, but want to understand it more. Most of my use of a compass will be on topo maps for camping/hiking/hunting. I like clear base compasses for ease of use on a topo map. How would this style compare in ease of use vs. clear base styles?
Good video. I am very new to navigation w a compass. I have a question, please excuse it's simplicity. You mention in the beginning about your "pace count". Please explain. Thanks in advance.
Shoobe. what's the 0-300 ruler like thing i see in the army map reading and land navigation book? I'm kinda thinking, u coverd that with the protractor or the other vid with finding exact location. not sure if thats right, sorry I'm new at this and still somewhat confused. thanks
The lensatics we used in the Army (long time ago) didn't have the straight-edges on the left side of the body and lid. We were issued Silva compasses for the maps. It was also in the post-radium, pre-tritium era when night lume was not self-illuminating, and had to be charged and re-charged periodically with a GI flashlight in order to be seen a night. I noticed your compass was made in 1983; does the Tritium still have any usable night glow?
If you scroll through the totally unorganized comments, you'll see a longer discussion, but yes old tritium works. The 12.3 year thing is half life, not life. So half as bright every 12ish years. Since they come WAY too bright, 24 year old tritium is just fine for deeply dark nights. 36 years old is getting a bit dim, but luckily someone stole that compass so I have a newer ~20 year old one I use now! Yup, wish we had radium-like sources. Not sure what the nomenclature was, but before the compass I outline in this video the US used a series of marching compasses with round capsules that opened in a similar manner and... did nothing else the same. Not many of those around, and the ones that look the same are mostly awful chinese knockoffs, so beware your sentimentiality.
The compass cover has a printed stamp inside, the first number is the year. Just bought one on Ebay for $50, like new, Cammenga H3 Tritium, came with a green soft case too! Mine, stamped 20, means 2020, second number is the month, third is a production number. Very happy! I can tell, it's an HQ compass! Military has the best and most durable stuff available!
@zealberg didn't think newer phones did that anymore. Mine always used to do it. but hasnt for a few years now. maybe because i changed phone services?
Old video I know, but still good. These military compasses are so much better than Silva, Brunton or Suunto mirrored compasses. With these military ones, you can aim so much easier and more accurately when “shooting an azimuth.” I own several military compasses as well as a Suunto MC-2 mirrored compass. The Suunto I rarely carry on serious hikes and backpacking trips.
Naw... they are all just different. It is hard to get good baseplate or mirror compasses now (stupid profit reasons, mergers, etc) but good ones are excellent. And, mil issue in most countries. I even just got sent a snazzy compass cover for a Silva tritium I own, from a friend in Australia :) But I use my MC-1 the most still. Though I fear eventually the tritium will die, then I'll go back to the Cammenga because they still make them the old way, and apparently always will! Now, if I could just get Cammenga to make their tritium wrist compass reliable. Lost one because the child tossed it across the room, broke apart and never the same afterwards. The replacement freezes up when it gets too cold! I love having something I can rapidly refer to (esp in the dense country we get around here, or in urban areas, indoors, so you don't get twisted around) then go to the big one for planning. But... haven't found one I totally trust as yet.
@csar3 Yup, as long as it doesn't drag on the inside of the capsule, that's correct. It's because the magnetic field is not parallel to the surface of the earth, but sorta points straight at the poles. This is a "world compass" (not regional) because it has enough room for the magnetic disk to tilt, and the bearings work like that, etc. Of course, make sure the table doesn't have metal legs, etc. Use it outside, away from metal things.
The lanyard is used for pace count on an azimuth. You walk 100 yards at normal pace in the terrain your covering. Everytime your pace count indicates 100 yards you tie a knot . 800 yards should show 8 knots in the lanyard. This way the compassman keeps direction and distance on a topographic map. When the team leader wants position he can immediately point to location on the map. The small numbers in black are mils used to spot artillery and adjust fire. At night you set the glow in the dark needle , face plate and sight wire dots a mag North and when you travel at night there are two clicks to a degree witch will offset the face plate line and when you line up the sight wire dots and the face plate line , that will be your azimuth using glow in the dark marks. LRRP team353 Rangers lead the way . AIRBORNE.
I have never gotten around to making my pace count video, but we teach that a lot, and I've always taught (as I have myself) that you should allow the compass guy to do that alone, pace is done by someone else. Such nerds for this, we got tired of the current hobby beads breaking, made our own pace beads of indestructible materials: centralwar.com/events/Purchase-IndividualFieldGear.shtml But of course, it's more important to keep pace than have specific gear, so pebbles, knots or whatever you have will do.
Steven Hoober: Excellent video and well explained. Just a hint though......filming or photographing a relatively small dark(ish) object against a larger light / bright background causes the camera to under-expose and makes it difficult to see any details. Its better to use a background which is approximately as bright or as dark as the main subject (the compass).
Actually, the line on the bezel lens (the one you refer to about 3:30 into the video) isn't called a "direction of travel" line. That's the "index" line.
The one I got from Amazon is a bit different? No flip-up lens but a lens aimed directly at the dial. Though the UK military much prefer baseplate compasses. Lensatic are only really used by the artillery.
Perhaps is the lens actually a prism? Flip down prisms (called - brace yourself! - prismatic compasses) are a thing used by other armies, and a few nice ones are still made today for maritime and expedition work. The theory then is that you can look forward, get the sighting point and read the azimuth in the same plane, vs the "glance down" style of the lensatic. If you really get into it, minor advantages, but good ones are hard to find. I am still sad/angry a friend who purged all his outdoorsy gear sold both his (expensive and hard to find here) Silva Expedition 54s for not very much on eBay instead of to me! Do share the link. Which model did you get exactly?
@@seprishere Awww, was hoping it was something cool you have over there, but it's the standard Chinese consumer prismatic available (in bulk) as low as USD2 each. Check regularly to make sure it points north. Have had a few in classes and more often than not, they are not just a little sticky, leak water, etc. but actively do not work, and point fairly not north. I am not quite sure if these are trying to be a copy of something specific, but a good prismatic is the Francis Barker M-88, actually still used by some British Forces types (they come in MILS, so I assume as you said: artillery spotters and the like). Not at all cheap, but they do make a tritium illuminated one... I can't get. If you find one, send it to me :)
@@seprishere Funny they still sell them generally as "prismatic" compasses, though I was wondering based on the layout if that was a lens. Interesting. May have to actually try looking through it next time someone brings one... when we have classes again you know.
+Nicky Valiente Summary: mentalfloss.com/article/17586/why-cell-phones-make-speakers-go-blip-blip-blip-buzz so search more if you are a bigger electronics nerd and want to eliminate it. TL;DR it's from mobile phones, and some signals are at a frequency that is in the audible range so if interference occurs on the audio system (headset wires, speakers, mics), you can hear it clearly.
Great review and tutorial but my compass says ENGINEER on it and only has half the stuff on it well 3 quarters of the "features" on it and I'd like to know any info on it
Just a random question about the Tritium lights on the compass shown in this video, do they still illuminate? I'm curious cause they say the half life of tritium is 10 years, and from watching this video I noticed 92 03 XX numbers, I could be wrong but that is a 18 year old compass made in 1992. BTW, quality 8 part video series.
hello Shoobe thanks for the video, i recently found a Stanley London Natural Sine compass there are peoples call it the sailor compass some call it miner compass, and is dated back to WWI and i just really wanna know how to work such complex equipment since GPS simplify the whole compass experience
I still have mine upstairs somewhere! They don't even use them mostly anymore, they have what's called a DAGR (military version of a Garmin), hate to see what's going to happen when GPS gets knocked out!
Nope. The theory, I believe, is that combined with the maps it's a whole system. There's a declination chart at the bottom of each (US issue) map, with instructions on what to add or remove to get to each version of north you might need. If you had adjustable declination, the compass could be adjusted wrong, without you noticing, so this is supposed to be accident-proof. It's a choice, and one of any reasons why some people may like, or hate, this compass.
@@StevenHoober thanks for the quick and knowledgeable reply. I can see your point with map use. I would guess you just have to be careful if you are transferring baring from the map to compass or would any math be unnecessary if you align the compass properly to the map?
@@m005kennedy IF an adjustable-declination compass is properly dialed for location: no more math. But they can be risky not just for people who move to different regions but in certain far-north locales where you can walk over a period of a few days and have a notable change, or it changes a degree every few years, there's a risk you forget to change, and start heading the wrong angle. Non-dialable compasses means doing math every single time, so if important (trackless desert, artillery calls...) it's worth double checking - yourself or comparing with someone else doing the same calculation in parallel.
Mr Hoober: I am leaving to hike the CDT. It seems overtime I purchase a clear baseplate compass it eventually has a bubble. I am thinking about leaving with the Cammenga compass and then would not have to worry about it. I can use both styles of compasses. Would you recommend a clear base plate compass for hiking in this environment over the Cammenga? In my hikes on the CDT before of course there is snowy areas with freezing weather and then the heat of the desert and etc. Thanks. -SunnyWalker
I have zero concerns about ruggedness, like freezing, for any remotely quality compass. The USGI compass is only really something I suggest for people doing lots of work at night (unlikely for you), or for consistency in training etc. if a soldier/Marine/etc. It is big, and heavy, so I wouldn't want to add that much for a through hike. Also: it's old technology, and isn't even sealed! It can get damp inside and fog up. I have an overview of compass buying here ua-cam.com/video/3hl3GDoeNqM/v-deo.html and the same in text here: centralwargaming.blogspot.com/2017/08/buying-compass.html (and, the principles of having a backup, and a buying guide for them: centralwargaming.blogspot.com/2017/08/backup-compasses.html) There's also a discussion of a downside to the USGI lensatic which ended up with some specific models to consider otherwise: facebook.com/CentralWar/posts/1969134610041483
Mr. Hoober: Thanks! I will go with my Silva Ranger515 as I have that now. When and if i need a new one I'll apply your advice and principles. Thanks a million. -SunnyWalker
question...i have friends that were in the military that told me they were warned about repeated use on I Gen, II Gen, III Gen night vision because of radiation exposure. What about the tritium compass since it has a radiation symbol and it hangs around the neck? Nice video :) I do feel more confident about using a compass after your tutorial.:)
+CincyRedsFan 513 Mostly, we're making mistakes constantly. You look at the compass, walk a bit, look, etc. You make little mistakes in taking your quick bearings and in walking, but they should even out over time. But if you mess up once bigger than the others Two other things make this not as huge a deal usually: 1) Understandings of precision is important. Ideally, you are walking 5 or 10 or 50 miles on the same basic heading, so any one small mistake is very, very, very tiny in the overall scheme. 2) Terrain association. If you were moving to a saddle, say, and you are off by 50 meters from the center when you get there, you'll notice and fix it when you get there. Now if you KNOW you have to get off the track, like because there's a clear obstacle, you box it off. Using pace count and your compass, go around in a clearly measured way. Walk (for example) 100 m due N, then back on your bearing till clear of the obstacle, then 100 m due S. You are still on track!
Continues... Be sure to put some white lithium grease on the capsule sides before re-inserting, so it goes in easy and comes out if you need to pull it apart again.
@onehitkill That is a good point. Remind me in a month or so to make a video. REALLY busy now finishing off my book. In brief: find a 200 space. Measure it. Walk it, counting every left footfall, as naturally as possible. Divide by 2, write it down. Do this several times, even on different days, so you are sure you are getting a good result. Now you know how many steps per 100 m, and you can use counting beads, to track distance traveled.
Both. Indicates self-luminous vs glow-in-the-dark (light it up first) but also allows you to be worried about any safety of use (not really, VERY little tritium, wrong type of radiation to harm you, but militaries are big on health-and-safety checks), as well as being segregated from certain disposal, distribution, destruction, etc.
Only the uninformed say it lasts 10 years. It has a 10 year half life. So, half power, and so on for eternity. 10-20 year old compasses are perfect. New ones are way too bright to actually use.
+Aron Silb Not much I know. Not really a collector. Kiffe is older stuff. Company was a general maker of outdoors stuff from the late 1800s through the 1960s at least. In the 60s, they dealt in surplus then made (had made, in Japan: the China of the 60s) a series of cheapish knockoffs of mostly knives like military bayonets. Also made some Boy Scout targeted stuff like a cheap lensatic compass. If in good shape, cheap then is mid quality now, so it may work. But there are so many decent compasses these days, I wouldn't bother using such a thing for actual navigation or anything.
I keep meaning to put a video up. Lots of other stuff, so not soon. It's a way to make yourself a distance measuring tool, which is the other thing you need with your compass and map to really navigate. I can't include links (why?) but google "Pace Count" and you'll find articles.
If you prefer, take a GPS but don't leave your compass behind. Adjust your compass for the magnetic declination in your area ( I don't know if you can do this with a Camenga compass ). Go to www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag-web/?useFullSite=true Remember - "East is best ( add +), West is worst ( substract -). " Then, get a 1:50,000 or 1:25,000 topographic map and place it in a plastic see-through waterproof pouch with paper and pencils. Binoculars and a small flashlight are also good to have. The liquid filled, dampened, compass is less expensive and may have attractive features, but they will eventually develop a disabling bubble. Military or engineering lensatic compass are best. Other than for sighting a target in the direction of travel and walking to it, you may need to estimate the distance that you have traveled if there is no point of reference on the map. In essence, you need to know how many times your left foot strikes the ground in 100 meters with the load you will be carrying in the type of terrain you will be traversing. Ranger beads are a convenient way of recording each 100 meters to one kilometer.
Good tutorial Mr. Hoober and much appreciated . I would like to find information about a military issue M-2 compass as well . Thanks again and best wishes - Lefty
Good point. I have never seen any instruction on using the Brunton Pocket Transit in any way. Have one and just packed it for an upcoming trip, but I just sort of figured it out. Googling that term instead of M2 compass results in... a YT video: ua-cam.com/video/UxubLh2Ross/v-deo.html Haven't watched fully, but it's apparently got a lot of features and capabilities I didn't know, so will have to check out sometime.
MATH! The USGI compass has no declination setting dial, you have to add/subtract for each measurement. On NGA maps (US Government mil-issue ones) it has a chart that gives you this math. Here in one other video I do a bit of an overview of how that works, and show off where you find it: ua-cam.com/video/H4SKU20vVL0/v-deo.html Other maps should have the declination change and you just have to work that out yourself. If declination is a big deal (lots of variation in your region), if high precision is needed, or you are going a long ways with few features to adjust for based on terrain association, you can give yourself a reminder, do the declination "once" by drawing M-N (magnetic north) lines on the map then work off those instead of the G-N lines. Only works for azimuth, for route planning, not for MGRS grid references, but it works.
@10karhu Not that random. And you read the date right. I skipped it in the video, but in class I try to make people think back to physics. Half life is not LIFE, but half-life. After (appx) 10 years, half the radioactivity from tritium is emitted as the day it was made. After 20 years, half of that, etc. into infinity. So, it gets logarithmically dimmer, but takes a very long time before it's so dark you cannot see it.
I prefer walking around with a baseplate (but sighting, and night work, with a USGI lensatic), but if you like it, go for it. Cammenga is the only current maker I know of, and also sells commercially. Expensive. Especially for Tritium (if you are /ever/ out at night, get Tritium) try to get a surplus one. Not just scads cheaper, but the tritium is too bright when new, so 20 years old is just right. Don't worry about peeling paint; many were not primed right. It's fine, just ugly.
Unless someone scrubbed it off or painted the compass, there's a stamp on the inside of the lid in usually black ink with the date code. That code is (usually) year then month. The last number is a lot which is meaningless to us, so just ignore it.
Steven Hoober thanks for the reply. My grandpa gave it to me 25+!years ago and no markings anywhere. Directions say engineer, printed in Japan and the compass itself dial says “valor”
@@s1l3ntopus Ah, then it's not a "Lensatic" in this context meaning a USGI made by Cammenga, but something else. The "Valor" (I am sure that's a brand for US market distribution, not the real manufacturer name) seem okay but are consumer market compasses with IME plastic cases, so may not be as sturdy as the real thing at all. They are sort of a combination of a various european 19th century marching compasses and the USGI style, but aren't truly knockoffs of the USGI Cammenga, missing several features. The same design (maybe even the same old molds!) is made in China now, mostly extremely poorly.
Steven Hoober sorry for my ignorance but the model is lensatic and maker is cammenga? All I have is super thin instructions, blue cloth bag and compass itself, just trying to date the compass Is all, I was very young and don’t remember my age. My grandpa served ww2
@@s1l3ntopus Cammenga is the maker of the USGI lensatic as shown in my video. Your Valor is a consumer market compass that emulates the US (and european) "marching compasses." It is certainly post-war, and may have been bought by your Grandfather to emulate what he used in the war, but is not that old or actually issue.
@TheZoltanF I wish. I also have two rather bad scars, one from a mole on my back, one directly opposite on my shoulder from a tumor removal. It handily is right past the edge of body armor, so would be easy to attribute to a fragment or other projectile. But it's all much more boring.
@cockercane You can probably get a tritium USGI one cheaper than a new phosphorescent one, but the army also issues the non-tritium model, and they are sometimes available for like $10. Don't pay too much. Tritium is mostly valuable because you don't need to shine a light at it to light it up. If you need to be tactical, this is crucial. But otherwise, not so much. I would make sure you have spare lights, and spare batteries though...
Anyone doing that in our Land Nav training in the Marines would’ve flunked. I guess it’ll work but it won’t be as accurate. With the compass to cheek sighting, the sight wire should be vertical. The lens bracket should be back as far as possible. For me personally, the lens bracket all the way back as far as it will go works fine. Anything with a front and rear sight has a sight radius. The farther the distance from front to rear sight, the better. You’re only decreasing accuracy by folding your sights close to each other. I think the confusion stems from the base plate style compass. With those you have a mirror that DOES need to be folded down to approximately 45 degrees. No mirrors on the Lensatic tho :)
Don't you need to know where the steering wheel, accelerator, brake pedal, turn signals, and transmission shifter lever is when you drive a car? Same thing here.
Yes, the USGI lensatic is a global compass, with no need to buy regionally balanced versions. If buying another compass, be aware of regions, and that it's not just north and south, but there are up to 5 regions depending on the maker. I summarize a lot of attributes of buying a compass here: centralwargaming.blogspot.com/2017/08/buying-compass.html
Never heard of them, no idea. I disagree that GPS made compasses work better. More people get lost and stuck on inappropriate roads by following GPS strictly. You are better off knowing how to navigate from paper and compass even if you are gonna use a GPS.
@shoobe01 True it is complex, thats why there is controversy regarding it. Im sure your aware of Australias findings on this matter, how bout them cell phone towers? Not exactly producing oxygen an evergreen does do they. Hey do you know if using a watch to find North is affected by Daylight savings 1 hr difference?
@zealberg Naw, it was just synching email or something. That's indeed mobile network noise, but all in the radio band. I didn't hear it until after the recording. Sorry for that :( I put my phone far away in later videos.
It used to be that it was really hard for a civilian to find the tritium ones but now they can be found on Ebay for about $80-90. There is NO BETTER compass a soldier or civilian can have for map reading and navigation.
None. They use the other way to dampen the needle, magnetic dampening. The needle moves through an internal magnetic field, which has somewhat the same effect as a liquid but doesn't leak out or get air bubbles.
Officially, yes it's radioactive. Hence the symbols. Practically, zero chance. First, it cannot just leak out or anything. Mostly, very, very, very, very, very small amounts. Someone did the math and figured you'd need to break many thousands of tubes at the same time in a broom closet to be at risk of anything.
... you should be able to determine what features yours has, and does not have, and use only the skills I explain that apply to your model of compass. Once you get familiar with it, you can then make more sense of printed manuals, and other tutorials about your compass, and get really used to it.
@Diopterman Um... too much to type here. Might be worth skimming these videos, then my baseplate video so you see how I compare them. Yeah, it'll take a while, but then you get to see how stuff works. I also prefer the baseplate, and note that the UK, Canada, a lot of other armies in the world, and many individual soldiers in the US buy and carry baseplate or ranger (mirror) compasses. They work. Oh: One thing the USGI is good for is night work. If not what you do, you will not care.
Probably does not have a HazMat symbol (which doesn't exist?) but the radiation trefoil. They all have that. Tritium is just H^3, so that's often a shorthand. That's pretty old, so probably has no detectable glow anymore, but it may be a record for age of compasses with tritium I have heard of anyone actually owning. Cool stuff.
Additionally, I'm very much of the opinion that the new ones are SO bright you cannot use them. The bright parts drown out the dimmer parts (its hard to read numbers through the glare) And either way, your night vision is gonna be messed up. So I prefer these older compasses actually.
@CherokeeTwilight Several watch methods. This covers them all wikihow . com /Find-True-North-Without-a-Compass Yes, the one where you line up at noon has to be done at 1 if on savings time. Note that page also covers southern-hemisphere variations well, which many do not.
Two index lines, on the capsule, like this one: www.gijoesmilitarysurplus.com/images/R401.jpg ?? I admit... I have no idea. If I knew once, I totally forgot. They seem to be only on really cheap knockoffs, but I have no idea what they are knocking off. Emailing some more historically-minded folks I know, see if they recall where it originated so I can try to figure out why.
Likely some knockoff, and without marks that's suspicious. If it is possible to post photos or message or whatever in YT do that. Else ask and I'll link to another method.
Yes, this video is about twice as long as it needs to be and does not have very good audio. And more importantly, these type of military compasses are not the best choice for most civilian users. If you are a civilian, and want a great compass that's a lot easier to use than this one, check out the Suunto M3. Here's a nice video that talks about its features: ua-cam.com/video/dI617p5vqu4/v-deo.html
This is long on purpose, to cover Everything you might need. It's intended to be a companion to face-to-face training, which is often very abbreviated or is done in large groups so it's hard to get details. This is specifically for military users and expressly geared to that. I don't carry such a compass when I have a choice, but it's the issue one and is unusual to use so needs training. I have a couple videos about baseplate compasses as well, such as this one: ua-cam.com/video/gZ-EMaUaE0c/v-deo.html
OMG, totally. That's why it matters which compass you are using when training. Many of them are upside down, backwards, etc. from what you might know and gets confusing or gets you lost. I occasionally say things backwards in these videos and had to edit or note over it because I was doing them all at roughly the same time, switch a lot for training purposes, and get confused myself.
Steven Hoober when you think a little you will figure it out ,unless something is wrong fatigue, dehidrataion ,heat,or if you are sick or cold and you are not at 100% mentally.
Good design but had a batch of these at local surplus store and out of 6 only one pointed north . The rest were out from between 8 and 42 Deg !!! Check the accuracy before you rely on it
Always a good idea to test, and a good way to test anything when not sure of the baseline (e.g. thermometers) is to get a bunch of them. Outliers are usually wrong. Now, of course, compasses interfere with each other, so put them a good ways apart. Weeeeeird. Never had the cards fail on these at all. Never even heard of it. Are you 100% sure you were not near something too metal, energized, etc. while testing. I guess if it's possible to ruin them, then maybe that's why those were all surplussed!
Mine has the tritium also, after 10 years or so, it doesn't work any more. mine is over 20 years old and doesn't glow at all now. but since I wouldn't navigate at night now unless I have to that isn't a problem. and I also use a suunto m3 compass and always take them both with me.
+Imjusttoo Dissgusted Shouldn't be dead from just tritium decay, but the vials can leak. Don't worry, fractions of a microgram, so no danger to yourself, but if totally dead, that is usually what happened. Assuming it was a radioluminescent one. A lot of people complain to me about this and then I look at their compass and have to break to them they bought a non-tritium version.
+Steven Hoober hate to contradict you but tritium has a half life of 12.5 years. If it's 20 years old then the tritium's decayed to the point of no longer working as intended.
+FPSGHoST808 Common misunderstanding. Half life is not Life, but HALF life. Explained here: ua-cam.com/video/opjJ-3Tkfyg/v-deo.html but the effect is after 12.5 years it's half as bright. After 12.5 more years, half as bright as that, and so on. Forever. Experimentally: Not only do I have several compasses that are much older than 12.5 years, but this thing about buying older tritium compasses is not something I came up with, but am just sharing. It's a known good idea if you want to be really sneaky at night, and not kill your night vision.
Steven Hoober i know what a half life is. as he said, it's over 20 years old. assuming it's not past 25, then there's a small about left, but not enough to work as it was intended to.
+FPSGHoST808 Many, many, many do not get half life, at all. My favorite USGI has a 1983 mfg date. 33 years. Know (have seen) a number of similarly old compasses. They are much dimmer than new ones, but new ones are too bright, and these work very well for night navigation when dark enough to really need it. Similarly, firearms sights I have used well to around 16-18 years. At that point they glow plenty but you run into resolution issues. They are far away from the eye, so start being a problem to use in practice, at arm's reach. This, however, is a similar issue: The rears on handguns are far, far, far too bright as they are closer and there are two of them (typically). I (and many others) dim or totally black out the rears with sharpie or paint so the front will be visible. Another way is to use older "expired" rear sights with a full brightness front.
What do mean? If that it stops before the lesson is done: there was a limit on UA-cam length when I posted it. Note there's a part 2: ua-cam.com/video/J5GKGq379xE/v-deo.html
You mean the sighting wire in the lid? It is just glued in there, so I have known a few who are even cheaper than me, and go out of their way to refurb old or broken ones that have fixed it. So, if handy at all, just scrape out the glue, clean and degrease, then epoxy in a new wire. Anything of the same size and stiffness will work fine. If me, I'd get perhaps a stainless wire from the little hobby tubing stuff at the local hardware store and paint it black before installation. Holding it centered so it doesn't move as the glue cures is probably the hardest bit. If fixturing seems hard, maybe... superglue it in place as you eyeball it in, then once set dab epoxy to seal it and fill the gap. Do tell how it goes!
@mashersixone Oh, I always forget the CYA notes. Yes, if you work in a company or for an agency, you damned well better follow the rules. It's radioactive enough (and a bomb component) so the NRC cares A LOT what happens to it. Lost a job? I presume a contractor, not a DoD employee???
It's nice to hear this from someone who actually knows what their talking about. Very helpful, thank you.
The instructions you are giving makes more sense than that of the last person's video. I was taught in the Air Force how to use the compass, but it was so long ago until I have forgotten what was taught to us.
I own a Cammenga compass, Tritium 3H, very nice, HQ tool!!
8:15 - position the lens where the floating dial comes in sharp.
We all have different eyes sharpness, some wear glasses.
In my case, the lens has to be in front of the cover a little bit and not engaged as in the video shown.
Looking through the gun site slot above the lens, the wire and anything beyond has to be sharp or well seen also.
That's all!
I have an old $5 lensatic compass (Made in Japan), same apply also.
The fit and quality is not as good as the Cammenga, but accurate.
With the liquid inside, the magnetic arrow takes a few seconds to settle.
Otherwise, in an experienced hand, this cheap compass can be a very handy tool for shooting azimuths!
Hi Steven, thank you for this great video explaining our older USGI compass (I am an older guy) - it does bring back a lot of memories - Ciao, L (Veteran)
Thanks for this! Came from the Brunton site, got their 9077, excited to mess around with it.
Thank you! I just got one of these and it had no instructions. Your video is easy to understand! 💜
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Thanks man, I'm thinking of getting one of these, they seem much more precise and useful than the base plate compasses I learned to use in the scouts
Great informational video... truly appreciate your time to develop this! Cheers
I also suggest a small UV light (like a keychain sized one). Phosphorescent materials absorb energy NOT in white light but in UV. So, shining UV gets them charged faster, and the light purple (it's hard to find pure UV) doesn't kill your night vision like a bright white light will.
Both of your videos were informative and enjoyable Steven.
Thank you for your time.
Finally I'm getting the video greatly appreciate seeing this I don't know what happened thanks for your response.
Good videos. Ignore the people whining about talking too much, etc., they're the same people who would complain if you said too little. Too bad you can't read everyone's minds and know exactly what they want, right? It's 9 minutes, AND YOU CAN FAST FORWARD WITH ALMOST NO EFFORT, even less effort than it takes to complain,and WAY less effort than it takes to make these videos.
Learned how to use one of these in the Marines in the early 80s. Still have it packed away somewhere.
@timjseg What needs cleaning? Mostly, hose it off if needed.
Sometimes they can get gummed up. Turns out, it's easy to get them apart without destroying them. Unscrew the four screws on the bottom of the case and pull of the plate. You'll find the entire capsule (the compass part) is actually a capsule. A rubber-covered little cylinder. Pull it out (carefully, to not tear the rubber, but it's gonna take some force) then you can clean the hinge and needle-lock mechanisms, and so on. More...
1) They are non-ferrous metals. Also makes them light. 2) You can calibrate compasses to compensate for nearby magnetic fields. Ships, for example, are multi-thousand-ton hunks of magnetic field, but compasses are crucial to navigation. Calibration of these is routine, very precise, and very repeatable. 3) OTOH, do keep away from other influences; vehicles, batteries, weapons, etc. Watch your compass.
Thanks for posting this!
i have a basic understanding of navigation, but want to understand it more. Most of my use of a compass will be on topo maps for camping/hiking/hunting. I like clear base compasses for ease of use on a topo map. How would this style compare in ease of use vs. clear base styles?
Good videos (this and Part 2). Just enough information without overdoing it. Thanks.
Good video. I am very new to navigation w a compass. I have a question, please excuse it's simplicity. You mention in the beginning about your "pace count". Please explain. Thanks in advance.
Geoffrey, is there a particular website and or brand that you would recommend?
Shoobe. what's the 0-300 ruler like thing i see in the army map reading and land navigation book? I'm kinda thinking, u coverd that with the protractor or the other vid with finding exact location. not sure if thats right, sorry I'm new at this and still somewhat confused. thanks
I'm thinking about a cammenga lensatic, it seems really easy to walk with and still accurate
The lensatics we used in the Army (long time ago) didn't have the straight-edges on the left side of the body and lid. We were issued Silva compasses for the maps. It was also in the post-radium, pre-tritium era when night lume was not self-illuminating, and had to be charged and re-charged periodically with a GI flashlight in order to be seen a night. I noticed your compass was made in 1983; does the Tritium still have any usable night glow?
If you scroll through the totally unorganized comments, you'll see a longer discussion, but yes old tritium works. The 12.3 year thing is half life, not life. So half as bright every 12ish years. Since they come WAY too bright, 24 year old tritium is just fine for deeply dark nights. 36 years old is getting a bit dim, but luckily someone stole that compass so I have a newer ~20 year old one I use now!
Yup, wish we had radium-like sources.
Not sure what the nomenclature was, but before the compass I outline in this video the US used a series of marching compasses with round capsules that opened in a similar manner and... did nothing else the same. Not many of those around, and the ones that look the same are mostly awful chinese knockoffs, so beware your sentimentiality.
The compass cover has a printed stamp inside, the first number is the year.
Just bought one on Ebay for $50, like new, Cammenga H3 Tritium, came with a green soft case too!
Mine, stamped 20, means 2020, second number is the month, third is a production number.
Very happy!
I can tell, it's an HQ compass!
Military has the best and most durable stuff available!
Thank you for the great lesson Steven have a good day!
@zealberg didn't think newer phones did that anymore. Mine always used to do it. but hasnt for a few years now. maybe because i changed phone services?
the best vid on how to use compass.
Old video I know, but still good. These military compasses are so much better than Silva, Brunton or Suunto mirrored compasses. With these military ones, you can aim so much easier and more accurately when “shooting an azimuth.” I own several military compasses as well as a Suunto MC-2 mirrored compass. The Suunto I rarely carry on serious hikes and backpacking trips.
Naw... they are all just different. It is hard to get good baseplate or mirror compasses now (stupid profit reasons, mergers, etc) but good ones are excellent. And, mil issue in most countries. I even just got sent a snazzy compass cover for a Silva tritium I own, from a friend in Australia :) But I use my MC-1 the most still. Though I fear eventually the tritium will die, then I'll go back to the Cammenga because they still make them the old way, and apparently always will!
Now, if I could just get Cammenga to make their tritium wrist compass reliable. Lost one because the child tossed it across the room, broke apart and never the same afterwards. The replacement freezes up when it gets too cold! I love having something I can rapidly refer to (esp in the dense country we get around here, or in urban areas, indoors, so you don't get twisted around) then go to the big one for planning. But... haven't found one I totally trust as yet.
@@4ourthmobile433 cammengas are just so bullet proof.
@csar3 Yup, as long as it doesn't drag on the inside of the capsule, that's correct. It's because the magnetic field is not parallel to the surface of the earth, but sorta points straight at the poles. This is a "world compass" (not regional) because it has enough room for the magnetic disk to tilt, and the bearings work like that, etc.
Of course, make sure the table doesn't have metal legs, etc. Use it outside, away from metal things.
Very good detailed tutorial. It maybe me but it seems a standard base plate compass is much easier to use.
The lanyard is used for pace count on an azimuth. You walk 100 yards at normal pace in the terrain your covering. Everytime your pace count indicates 100 yards you tie a knot . 800 yards should show 8 knots in the lanyard. This way the compassman keeps direction and distance on a topographic map. When the team leader wants position he can immediately point to location on the map. The small numbers in black are mils used to spot artillery and adjust fire. At night you set the glow in the dark needle , face plate and sight wire dots a mag North and when you travel at night there are two clicks to a degree witch will offset the face plate line and when you line up the sight wire dots and the face plate line , that will be your azimuth using glow in the dark marks. LRRP team353 Rangers lead the way . AIRBORNE.
I have never gotten around to making my pace count video, but we teach that a lot, and I've always taught (as I have myself) that you should allow the compass guy to do that alone, pace is done by someone else.
Such nerds for this, we got tired of the current hobby beads breaking, made our own pace beads of indestructible materials: centralwar.com/events/Purchase-IndividualFieldGear.shtml
But of course, it's more important to keep pace than have specific gear, so pebbles, knots or whatever you have will do.
Steven Hoober: Excellent video and well explained. Just a hint though......filming or photographing a relatively small dark(ish) object against a larger light / bright background causes the camera to under-expose and makes it difficult to see any details. Its better to use a background which is approximately as bright or as dark as the main subject (the compass).
The compass body is dark, but the dial is white, and properly exposed using the white background.
Actually, the line on the bezel lens (the one you refer to about 3:30 into the video) isn't called a "direction of travel" line. That's the "index" line.
The one I got from Amazon is a bit different? No flip-up lens but a lens aimed directly at the dial.
Though the UK military much prefer baseplate compasses. Lensatic are only really used by the artillery.
Perhaps is the lens actually a prism? Flip down prisms (called - brace yourself! - prismatic compasses) are a thing used by other armies, and a few nice ones are still made today for maritime and expedition work.
The theory then is that you can look forward, get the sighting point and read the azimuth in the same plane, vs the "glance down" style of the lensatic. If you really get into it, minor advantages, but good ones are hard to find. I am still sad/angry a friend who purged all his outdoorsy gear sold both his (expensive and hard to find here) Silva Expedition 54s for not very much on eBay instead of to me!
Do share the link. Which model did you get exactly?
@@StevenHooberNot on mine. Mine is a lens pointed directly at the dial?
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0140X8OVO/
@@seprishere Awww, was hoping it was something cool you have over there, but it's the standard Chinese consumer prismatic available (in bulk) as low as USD2 each.
Check regularly to make sure it points north. Have had a few in classes and more often than not, they are not just a little sticky, leak water, etc. but actively do not work, and point fairly not north.
I am not quite sure if these are trying to be a copy of something specific, but a good prismatic is the Francis Barker M-88, actually still used by some British Forces types (they come in MILS, so I assume as you said: artillery spotters and the like). Not at all cheap, but they do make a tritium illuminated one... I can't get. If you find one, send it to me :)
@@seprishere Funny they still sell them generally as "prismatic" compasses, though I was wondering based on the layout if that was a lens. Interesting. May have to actually try looking through it next time someone brings one... when we have classes again you know.
5:10 I've heard this noise on several radios and devices what does it mean?
+Nicky Valiente Summary: mentalfloss.com/article/17586/why-cell-phones-make-speakers-go-blip-blip-blip-buzz so search more if you are a bigger electronics nerd and want to eliminate it. TL;DR it's from mobile phones, and some signals are at a frequency that is in the audible range so if interference occurs on the audio system (headset wires, speakers, mics), you can hear it clearly.
usually a cell phone close to a speaker & getting ready to ring...in my experience that is...
Great review and tutorial but my compass says ENGINEER on it and only has half the stuff on it well 3 quarters of the "features" on it and I'd like to know any info on it
There are many, many compasses, and lots of knockoffs of this particular model. Without seeing I couldn't guess more.
Ahh ok thanks yea it kinda does seem like a knock off its a bit cheaply made thanks for replying so fast its very appreciated
Camster V if it is black I have the same and it is a knock off, but it works well.
Just a random question about the Tritium lights on the compass shown in this video, do they still illuminate? I'm curious cause they say the half life of tritium is 10 years, and from watching this video I noticed 92 03 XX numbers, I could be wrong but that is a 18 year old compass made in 1992. BTW, quality 8 part video series.
Thanks Steven, thorough explanation!
hello Shoobe thanks for the video, i recently found a Stanley London Natural Sine compass there are peoples call it the sailor compass some call it miner compass, and is dated back to WWI and i just really wanna know how to work such complex equipment since GPS simplify the whole compass experience
Until you can't get a aignal that is
Try using a sexton, you'll really be confused!
I still have mine upstairs somewhere!
They don't even use them mostly anymore, they have what's called a DAGR (military version of a Garmin), hate to see what's going to happen when GPS gets knocked out!
Do these compasses have a adjustable declination?
Nope. The theory, I believe, is that combined with the maps it's a whole system. There's a declination chart at the bottom of each (US issue) map, with instructions on what to add or remove to get to each version of north you might need.
If you had adjustable declination, the compass could be adjusted wrong, without you noticing, so this is supposed to be accident-proof.
It's a choice, and one of any reasons why some people may like, or hate, this compass.
@@StevenHoober thanks for the quick and knowledgeable reply. I can see your point with map use. I would guess you just have to be careful if you are transferring baring from the map to compass or would any math be unnecessary if you align the compass properly to the map?
@@m005kennedy IF an adjustable-declination compass is properly dialed for location: no more math. But they can be risky not just for people who move to different regions but in certain far-north locales where you can walk over a period of a few days and have a notable change, or it changes a degree every few years, there's a risk you forget to change, and start heading the wrong angle.
Non-dialable compasses means doing math every single time, so if important (trackless desert, artillery calls...) it's worth double checking - yourself or comparing with someone else doing the same calculation in parallel.
Mr Hoober: I am leaving to hike the CDT. It seems overtime I purchase a clear baseplate compass it eventually has a bubble. I am thinking about leaving with the Cammenga compass and then would not have to worry about it. I can use both styles of compasses. Would you recommend a clear base plate compass for hiking in this environment over the Cammenga? In my hikes on the CDT before of course there is snowy areas with freezing weather and then the heat of the desert and etc. Thanks. -SunnyWalker
I have zero concerns about ruggedness, like freezing, for any remotely quality compass. The USGI compass is only really something I suggest for people doing lots of work at night (unlikely for you), or for consistency in training etc. if a soldier/Marine/etc. It is big, and heavy, so I wouldn't want to add that much for a through hike. Also: it's old technology, and isn't even sealed! It can get damp inside and fog up.
I have an overview of compass buying here ua-cam.com/video/3hl3GDoeNqM/v-deo.html and the same in text here: centralwargaming.blogspot.com/2017/08/buying-compass.html (and, the principles of having a backup, and a buying guide for them: centralwargaming.blogspot.com/2017/08/backup-compasses.html)
There's also a discussion of a downside to the USGI lensatic which ended up with some specific models to consider otherwise: facebook.com/CentralWar/posts/1969134610041483
Mr. Hoober: Thanks! I will go with my Silva Ranger515 as I have that now. When and if i need a new one I'll apply your advice and principles. Thanks a million. -SunnyWalker
Excellent video. Thanks for share.
question...i have friends that were in the military that told me they were warned about repeated use on I Gen, II Gen, III Gen night vision because of radiation exposure. What about the tritium compass since it has a radiation symbol and it hangs around the neck? Nice video :) I do feel more confident about using a compass after your tutorial.:)
It’s not very strong.
Very good review, after I saw it I bought one on Ebay , also
I didn't know Dr. House does compass reviews :)
Steven, if you stray off the bearing while walking, doesn't this require a new bearing to be taken? Thanks
+CincyRedsFan 513 Mostly, we're making mistakes constantly. You look at the compass, walk a bit, look, etc. You make little mistakes in taking your quick bearings and in walking, but they should even out over time.
But if you mess up once bigger than the others Two other things make this not as huge a deal usually: 1) Understandings of precision is important. Ideally, you are walking 5 or 10 or 50 miles on the same basic heading, so any one small mistake is very, very, very tiny in the overall scheme.
2) Terrain association. If you were moving to a saddle, say, and you are off by 50 meters from the center when you get there, you'll notice and fix it when you get there.
Now if you KNOW you have to get off the track, like because there's a clear obstacle, you box it off. Using pace count and your compass, go around in a clearly measured way. Walk (for example) 100 m due N, then back on your bearing till clear of the obstacle, then 100 m due S. You are still on track!
How do these compasses, which are made of like 95% metal, still provide accurate readings?
Continues... Be sure to put some white lithium grease on the capsule sides before re-inserting, so it goes in easy and comes out if you need to pull it apart again.
@onehitkill That is a good point. Remind me in a month or so to make a video. REALLY busy now finishing off my book. In brief: find a 200 space. Measure it. Walk it, counting every left footfall, as naturally as possible. Divide by 2, write it down. Do this several times, even on different days, so you are sure you are getting a good result. Now you know how many steps per 100 m, and you can use counting beads, to track distance traveled.
Radiation symbol? Is that for disposal or for user?
Both. Indicates self-luminous vs glow-in-the-dark (light it up first) but also allows you to be worried about any safety of use (not really, VERY little tritium, wrong type of radiation to harm you, but militaries are big on health-and-safety checks), as well as being segregated from certain disposal, distribution, destruction, etc.
outstanding videos. thanks for taking the time to do them. my land nav needs work
What happpened to your right thumb?
Nice job! Does the tritium last 10 years like they say, or has yours lasted longer?
Only the uninformed say it lasts 10 years. It has a 10 year half life. So, half power, and so on for eternity. 10-20 year old compasses are perfect. New ones are way too bright to actually use.
Little grabby bits... technical term. Great video. On to pt 2.
quick question is their something special abt a KIFFE compass (TYPE OL-IO
+Aron Silb Not much I know. Not really a collector. Kiffe is older stuff. Company was a general maker of outdoors stuff from the late 1800s through the 1960s at least. In the 60s, they dealt in surplus then made (had made, in Japan: the China of the 60s) a series of cheapish knockoffs of mostly knives like military bayonets. Also made some Boy Scout targeted stuff like a cheap lensatic compass.
If in good shape, cheap then is mid quality now, so it may work. But there are so many decent compasses these days, I wouldn't bother using such a thing for actual navigation or anything.
+Steven Hoober actually it's in excellent shape I'm pretty sure it was either surplus or actually used in combat
I keep meaning to put a video up. Lots of other stuff, so not soon. It's a way to make yourself a distance measuring tool, which is the other thing you need with your compass and map to really navigate. I can't include links (why?) but google "Pace Count" and you'll find articles.
If you prefer, take a GPS but don't leave your compass behind. Adjust your compass for the magnetic declination in your area ( I don't know if you can do this with a Camenga compass ).
Go to www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag-web/?useFullSite=true
Remember - "East is best ( add +), West is worst ( substract -). "
Then, get a 1:50,000 or 1:25,000 topographic map and place it in a plastic see-through waterproof pouch with paper and pencils. Binoculars and a small flashlight are also good to have.
The liquid filled, dampened, compass is less expensive and may have attractive features, but they will eventually develop a disabling bubble. Military or engineering lensatic compass are best.
Other than for sighting a target in the direction of travel and walking to it, you may need to estimate the distance that you have traveled if there is no point of reference on the map. In essence, you need to know how many times your left foot strikes the ground in 100 meters with the load you will be carrying in the type of terrain you will be traversing. Ranger beads are a convenient way of recording each 100 meters to one kilometer.
How do you adjust the M1950 compass for declination?
With math. There is no dial to set declination, you just have to account for it in each measurement.
Good tutorial Mr. Hoober and much appreciated . I would like to find information about a military issue M-2 compass as well . Thanks again and best wishes - Lefty
Good point. I have never seen any instruction on using the Brunton Pocket Transit in any way. Have one and just packed it for an upcoming trip, but I just sort of figured it out.
Googling that term instead of M2 compass results in... a YT video: ua-cam.com/video/UxubLh2Ross/v-deo.html Haven't watched fully, but it's apparently got a lot of features and capabilities I didn't know, so will have to check out sometime.
good. Informative. Detailed.
how do you set local declination?
MATH! The USGI compass has no declination setting dial, you have to add/subtract for each measurement.
On NGA maps (US Government mil-issue ones) it has a chart that gives you this math. Here in one other video I do a bit of an overview of how that works, and show off where you find it: ua-cam.com/video/H4SKU20vVL0/v-deo.html
Other maps should have the declination change and you just have to work that out yourself. If declination is a big deal (lots of variation in your region), if high precision is needed, or you are going a long ways with few features to adjust for based on terrain association, you can give yourself a reminder, do the declination "once" by drawing M-N (magnetic north) lines on the map then work off those instead of the G-N lines. Only works for azimuth, for route planning, not for MGRS grid references, but it works.
Great video
@10karhu Not that random. And you read the date right. I skipped it in the video, but in class I try to make people think back to physics. Half life is not LIFE, but half-life. After (appx) 10 years, half the radioactivity from tritium is emitted as the day it was made. After 20 years, half of that, etc. into infinity. So, it gets logarithmically dimmer, but takes a very long time before it's so dark you cannot see it.
I prefer walking around with a baseplate (but sighting, and night work, with a USGI lensatic), but if you like it, go for it. Cammenga is the only current maker I know of, and also sells commercially. Expensive. Especially for Tritium (if you are /ever/ out at night, get Tritium) try to get a surplus one. Not just scads cheaper, but the tritium is too bright when new, so 20 years old is just right. Don't worry about peeling paint; many were not primed right. It's fine, just ugly.
Very good, thorough explanation. Thank you.
Is there a way to tell how old my lenstatic compass is?
Unless someone scrubbed it off or painted the compass, there's a stamp on the inside of the lid in usually black ink with the date code.
That code is (usually) year then month. The last number is a lot which is meaningless to us, so just ignore it.
Steven Hoober thanks for the reply. My grandpa gave it to me 25+!years ago and no markings anywhere. Directions say engineer, printed in Japan and the compass itself dial says “valor”
@@s1l3ntopus Ah, then it's not a "Lensatic" in this context meaning a USGI made by Cammenga, but something else.
The "Valor" (I am sure that's a brand for US market distribution, not the real manufacturer name) seem okay but are consumer market compasses with IME plastic cases, so may not be as sturdy as the real thing at all. They are sort of a combination of a various european 19th century marching compasses and the USGI style, but aren't truly knockoffs of the USGI Cammenga, missing several features.
The same design (maybe even the same old molds!) is made in China now, mostly extremely poorly.
Steven Hoober sorry for my ignorance but the model is lensatic and maker is cammenga? All I have is super thin instructions, blue cloth bag and compass itself, just trying to date the compass Is all, I was very young and don’t remember my age. My grandpa served ww2
@@s1l3ntopus Cammenga is the maker of the USGI lensatic as shown in my video.
Your Valor is a consumer market compass that emulates the US (and european) "marching compasses." It is certainly post-war, and may have been bought by your Grandfather to emulate what he used in the war, but is not that old or actually issue.
@TheZoltanF I wish. I also have two rather bad scars, one from a mole on my back, one directly opposite on my shoulder from a tumor removal. It handily is right past the edge of body armor, so would be easy to attribute to a fragment or other projectile. But it's all much more boring.
@cockercane You can probably get a tritium USGI one cheaper than a new phosphorescent one, but the army also issues the non-tritium model, and they are sometimes available for like $10. Don't pay too much.
Tritium is mostly valuable because you don't need to shine a light at it to light it up. If you need to be tactical, this is crucial. But otherwise, not so much. I would make sure you have spare lights, and spare batteries though...
Great informational video! Nicely done!
Anyone doing that in our Land Nav training in the Marines would’ve flunked. I guess it’ll work but it won’t be as accurate. With the compass to cheek sighting, the sight wire should be vertical. The lens bracket should be back as far as possible. For me personally, the lens bracket all the way back as far as it will go works fine.
Anything with a front and rear sight has a sight radius. The farther the distance from front to rear sight, the better. You’re only decreasing accuracy by folding your sights close to each other.
I think the confusion stems from the base plate style compass. With those you have a mirror that DOES need to be folded down to approximately 45 degrees. No mirrors on the Lensatic tho :)
is, is that Smithers?
no. It's Jeff Goldblum
.
Jeff goldblum is an animal
Mr. Hoober, and THANKS for your videos. :-) -SunnyWalker
Don't you need to know where the steering wheel, accelerator, brake pedal, turn signals, and transmission shifter lever is when you drive a car? Same thing here.
This is quite good for the inunciated, I pers use my UK Army Prismatic, as Im Ex Army
Do this compass do the job also on southern hemisphere?
Yes, the USGI lensatic is a global compass, with no need to buy regionally balanced versions.
If buying another compass, be aware of regions, and that it's not just north and south, but there are up to 5 regions depending on the maker.
I summarize a lot of attributes of buying a compass here: centralwargaming.blogspot.com/2017/08/buying-compass.html
Never heard of them, no idea. I disagree that GPS made compasses work better. More people get lost and stuck on inappropriate roads by following GPS strictly. You are better off knowing how to navigate from paper and compass even if you are gonna use a GPS.
Great videos....your compass was builded in 1992
@shoobe01 True it is complex, thats why there is controversy regarding it. Im sure your aware of Australias findings on this matter, how bout them cell phone towers? Not exactly producing oxygen an evergreen does do they. Hey do you know if using a watch to find North is affected by Daylight savings 1 hr difference?
@zealberg Naw, it was just synching email or something. That's indeed mobile network noise, but all in the radio band. I didn't hear it until after the recording. Sorry for that :( I put my phone far away in later videos.
wow! thank you very much for posting this!!!!!!!!
It used to be that it was really hard for a civilian to find the tritium ones but now they can be found on Ebay for about $80-90. There is NO BETTER compass a soldier or civilian can have for map reading and navigation.
which liquid used in this compass ?
None. They use the other way to dampen the needle, magnetic dampening. The needle moves through an internal magnetic field, which has somewhat the same effect as a liquid but doesn't leak out or get air bubbles.
Glycerine, I believe?
Officially, yes it's radioactive. Hence the symbols. Practically, zero chance. First, it cannot just leak out or anything. Mostly, very, very, very, very, very small amounts. Someone did the math and figured you'd need to break many thousands of tubes at the same time in a broom closet to be at risk of anything.
... you should be able to determine what features yours has, and does not have, and use only the skills I explain that apply to your model of compass.
Once you get familiar with it, you can then make more sense of printed manuals, and other tutorials about your compass, and get really used to it.
@Diopterman Um... too much to type here. Might be worth skimming these videos, then my baseplate video so you see how I compare them. Yeah, it'll take a while, but then you get to see how stuff works.
I also prefer the baseplate, and note that the UK, Canada, a lot of other armies in the world, and many individual soldiers in the US buy and carry baseplate or ranger (mirror) compasses. They work.
Oh: One thing the USGI is good for is night work. If not what you do, you will not care.
yea thanks again shoobe great instructional.
My dad gave me one that's made in 1966 made by the Union Instrument Corp. It has the Hazmat symbol with Radioactive Radioisotope H3 on it.
Probably does not have a HazMat symbol (which doesn't exist?) but the radiation trefoil. They all have that. Tritium is just H^3, so that's often a shorthand. That's pretty old, so probably has no detectable glow anymore, but it may be a record for age of compasses with tritium I have heard of anyone actually owning. Cool stuff.
Tritium, a very small amount!
Additionally, I'm very much of the opinion that the new ones are SO bright you cannot use them. The bright parts drown out the dimmer parts (its hard to read numbers through the glare) And either way, your night vision is gonna be messed up. So I prefer these older compasses actually.
@CherokeeTwilight Several watch methods. This covers them all wikihow . com /Find-True-North-Without-a-Compass Yes, the one where you line up at noon has to be done at 1 if on savings time. Note that page also covers southern-hemisphere variations well, which many do not.
You never discussed why some have TWO sighting line at about 45 degrees apart.
Two index lines, on the capsule, like this one: www.gijoesmilitarysurplus.com/images/R401.jpg ??
I admit... I have no idea. If I knew once, I totally forgot. They seem to be only on really cheap knockoffs, but I have no idea what they are knocking off. Emailing some more historically-minded folks I know, see if they recall where it originated so I can try to figure out why.
I found one in my house once, but there is nothing on it, it's completely blank. No idea who made it
Likely some knockoff, and without marks that's suspicious. If it is possible to post photos or message or whatever in YT do that. Else ask and I'll link to another method.
Yes, this video is about twice as long as it needs to be and does not have very good audio. And more importantly, these type of military compasses are not the best choice for most civilian users. If you are a civilian, and want a great compass that's a lot easier to use than this one, check out the Suunto M3. Here's a nice video that talks about its features: ua-cam.com/video/dI617p5vqu4/v-deo.html
This is long on purpose, to cover Everything you might need. It's intended to be a companion to face-to-face training, which is often very abbreviated or is done in large groups so it's hard to get details.
This is specifically for military users and expressly geared to that. I don't carry such a compass when I have a choice, but it's the issue one and is unusual to use so needs training.
I have a couple videos about baseplate compasses as well, such as this one: ua-cam.com/video/gZ-EMaUaE0c/v-deo.html
How old is your compass?
nice video the azimuth following is a bit opposite to a base plate compass but its nice
OMG, totally. That's why it matters which compass you are using when training. Many of them are upside down, backwards, etc. from what you might know and gets confusing or gets you lost.
I occasionally say things backwards in these videos and had to edit or note over it because I was doing them all at roughly the same time, switch a lot for training purposes, and get confused myself.
Steven Hoober when you think a little you will figure it out ,unless something is wrong fatigue, dehidrataion ,heat,or if you are sick or cold and you are not at 100% mentally.
Good design but had a batch of these at local surplus store and out of 6 only one pointed north . The rest were out from between 8 and 42 Deg !!! Check the accuracy before you rely on it
Always a good idea to test, and a good way to test anything when not sure of the baseline (e.g. thermometers) is to get a bunch of them. Outliers are usually wrong. Now, of course, compasses interfere with each other, so put them a good ways apart.
Weeeeeird. Never had the cards fail on these at all. Never even heard of it. Are you 100% sure you were not near something too metal, energized, etc. while testing.
I guess if it's possible to ruin them, then maybe that's why those were all surplussed!
Mine has the tritium also, after 10 years or so, it doesn't work any more. mine is over 20 years old and doesn't glow at all now. but since I wouldn't navigate at night now unless I have to that isn't a problem. and I also use a suunto m3 compass and always take them both with me.
+Imjusttoo Dissgusted Shouldn't be dead from just tritium decay, but the vials can leak. Don't worry, fractions of a microgram, so no danger to yourself, but if totally dead, that is usually what happened.
Assuming it was a radioluminescent one. A lot of people complain to me about this and then I look at their compass and have to break to them they bought a non-tritium version.
+Steven Hoober hate to contradict you but tritium has a half life of 12.5 years. If it's 20 years old then the tritium's decayed to the point of no longer working as intended.
+FPSGHoST808 Common misunderstanding. Half life is not Life, but HALF life. Explained here: ua-cam.com/video/opjJ-3Tkfyg/v-deo.html but the effect is after 12.5 years it's half as bright. After 12.5 more years, half as bright as that, and so on. Forever.
Experimentally: Not only do I have several compasses that are much older than 12.5 years, but this thing about buying older tritium compasses is not something I came up with, but am just sharing. It's a known good idea if you want to be really sneaky at night, and not kill your night vision.
Steven Hoober i know what a half life is.
as he said, it's over 20 years old. assuming it's not past 25, then there's a small about left, but not enough to work as it was intended to.
+FPSGHoST808 Many, many, many do not get half life, at all. My favorite USGI has a 1983 mfg date. 33 years. Know (have seen) a number of similarly old compasses. They are much dimmer than new ones, but new ones are too bright, and these work very well for night navigation when dark enough to really need it.
Similarly, firearms sights I have used well to around 16-18 years. At that point they glow plenty but you run into resolution issues. They are far away from the eye, so start being a problem to use in practice, at arm's reach.
This, however, is a similar issue: The rears on handguns are far, far, far too bright as they are closer and there are two of them (typically). I (and many others) dim or totally black out the rears with sharpie or paint so the front will be visible. Another way is to use older "expired" rear sights with a full brightness front.
why video end ?
What do mean?
If that it stops before the lesson is done: there was a limit on UA-cam length when I posted it. Note there's a part 2: ua-cam.com/video/J5GKGq379xE/v-deo.html
Thanks for sharing this video.
lol when you said that I thought you meant a phone would actually ring, so when this happened I definitely checked my phone
I have a USGI comments 3H and I love it
the wire on the top snapped, help
You mean the sighting wire in the lid? It is just glued in there, so I have known a few who are even cheaper than me, and go out of their way to refurb old or broken ones that have fixed it. So, if handy at all, just scrape out the glue, clean and degrease, then epoxy in a new wire. Anything of the same size and stiffness will work fine. If me, I'd get perhaps a stainless wire from the little hobby tubing stuff at the local hardware store and paint it black before installation. Holding it centered so it doesn't move as the glue cures is probably the hardest bit. If fixturing seems hard, maybe... superglue it in place as you eyeball it in, then once set dab epoxy to seal it and fill the gap.
Do tell how it goes!
@@StevenHoober It's not all the way out but one side snapped and so I'll try to glue it back. Thanks for the advice though :)
@mashersixone Oh, I always forget the CYA notes. Yes, if you work in a company or for an agency, you damned well better follow the rules. It's radioactive enough (and a bomb component) so the NRC cares A LOT what happens to it.
Lost a job? I presume a contractor, not a DoD employee???